Ramp Network, a startup offering payment infrastructure to connect crypto and traditional finance, has opened a local entity in Brazil in order to expand into Latin America. The company will offer its software development kit (SDK) to clients, such as Web2 enterprises, crypto wallets, and Web3 games, allowing their users to buy crypto via an end-to-end, non-custodial on-ramp. Additionally, Ramp will provide a crypto to fiat off-ramp.
This year, we are fully dedicated to establishing a strong presence in Latin America, and the reason for that is that this is a very interesting market for us, said Łukasz Anwajler, Chief Technology Officer at Ramp, citing a survey published by blockchain data analytics platform Chainalysis. According to the data from Chainalysis, Brazil ranked seventh in the list of countries with the highest crypto adoption, and Latin America as a region accounted for 9.1% of all crypto value received globally last year.
The recent crypto regulatory clarity in Brazil was one of the reasons for Ramp to open an entity in the South American country. In December, Brazil passed a law that creates a “virtual service provider” license, which is to be requested by digital asset companies, including exchanges and trading intermediaries.
Ramp will look to link up with local payment networks, such as the widely used Pix, and will serve as Ramp’s hub for Latin America. The company added the Brazilian real and other Latin American currencies to its portfolio one month ago, and now allows users in Brazil to purchase crypto through card payments.
In November 2020, Ramp raised $70 million in a Series B funding round that was co-led by Mubadala Capital and Korelya Capital. The company allows users to buy and sell cryptocurrencies, and provides an integration for websites and applications to do the same. Ramp’s supported payment methods to buy crypto include credit, debit cards, a bank transfer, Apple Pay, and Google Pay.